One Little Zombie
by Fyras14
Summary: One crime, one amazing detective, six legends and a...zombie? A ZSL Crime AU.
1. The Detective

**A/N: **This little story is a few months old...I got the idea after reading a tumblr post and watching a bit of ace attorney on youtube and one thing led to another and this happened. Had the draft just sitting on my computer for months and decided to revise it and here it is!

Still need to work on a few details for this story...but, I figured writing this small story would help by writer's block but don't worry, Franchouchou feat will still be updating! I don't plan to abandon it, I just wanted to get this one out of my system. :)

This one will really not be updating as much, however, as I still need to work a bit on it more.

I don't mind getting a few ideas!

See you next time! And thanks for reading.

* * *

**One Little Zombie **

_**...a ZLS AU...**_

**The Detective**

Once upon a time, twelve years ago, to be exact, Kotaro Tatsumi had been a nobody.

He had been fresh out of the academy and already raring to go and make a name for himself. His superiors had scoffed at his excitement, giving him a few years in the force before he burned out. They had had little hope in the skills of a greenhorn. But then, just two months into the job, Tatsumi had made headlines. "It was a struck of genius," Tastsumi had told the papers as he marched off with his suspect in handcuffs.

The Yukimura twins had been kidnapped just three days prior. Their kidnapping sent the whole city in a small frenzy; police couldn't find neither clues nor suspects during those two days and by the third, they had already assumed the worst. Tatsumi had solved the case that very day, marching with the twins' uncle as the children reunited with their parents and Tatsumi posed for the cameras before him.

Tatsumi had only been nineteen and he had already made it big.

A year later, at twenty, he broke another big case; a murder at a rather famous accounting firm, Takumi.

Tatsumi had showed his genius once more, catching the CEO of the company redhanded as he tried to destroy evidence. The CEO, one Sho Takumi, had been having an affair but when the woman wanted to bail out and reveal their little fling out of spite, Takumi killed her in a moment of panic. Tatsumi still has that newspaper clipping framed, the picture of Takumi-san kicking and screaming still intact for all to see.

More cases piled up and Tatsumi solved every last one of them. There was no case he couldn't solve.

Soon, his face appeared on the covers of magazines, he was the golden boy of the Karatsu City police; with one of the many magazines calling him the "Modern Sherlock Holmes of Saga", to which Tatsumi, privately, had told himself he had better hair.

Tatsumi had been at the top of the world and nothing could bring him down…

...that is, until the Minamoto case happened.

The case, a rather tragic hit-and-run, was simple enough.

Early in the morning, the victim, Minamoto Sakura, had been run down and killed instantly by a truck. The driver, a man whose name Tatsumi hadn't bothered to remember, had run off after hitting poor Minamoto. He had been found a few hours later, windshield broken and blood dripping from the truck's vent bumper. The man had been charged, and his case was set to happen in a few days. It would have been a closed case but…

...Minamoto's body had gone missing just a day after her killer's arrest.

A whole new case had just opened right in front of Tatsumi's eyes, and he had jumped at the chance to solve it.

Days later, Tatsumi had found nothing. There was no lead, no clue, only the loose strands of pink hair that had belonged to Minamoto's corpse. Her hair could tell him nothing of the body's whereabouts.

Those days turned into weeks, weeks into months but Minamoto's body had not been found.

That, Tatsumi still remembers, had been the talk of Karatsu for months on end.

And while the populace gossip, the police could do nothing but scratch their heads and finally, after five arduous months, had called it quits. They figured Minamoto's body was a lost cause and they had the living to take care of, so the case was left cold and forgotten. But Tatsumi wouldn't let the case go cold so easily.

In his spare time, Tatsumi put all his attention on Minamoto's case; he reworked theories, made maps, did math problems, everything. So obsessed he was in trying to solve the case that his work began to suffer. Cases he would have solved in minutes took days and weeks to complete; evidence would be forgotten, go missing, or would not be collected, allowing some criminals to go scot free, the prosecutor not bothering with cases with so little evidence. Tatsumi's obsession had made him sloppy and soon enough everyone considered him a fraud that had just gotten lucky one too many times.

At twenty-five, and with Minamoto's body still missing, Tatsumi had finally burned out, like his superiors had predicted all those years back, and quit his job. He moved to the deepest corners of Saga City, working as a private detective, barely making ends meet, his obsession with Minamoto very much intact. At twenty-eight, he was struggling month after month to pay the rent and by then, everyone in Karatsu had forgotten about poor Kotaro Tatsumi, detective extraordinaire...everyone but himself and the case that was his obsession.

During a particular hard month, April, eating noodles and watching videos from the internet on his rusty old laptop, Tatsumi happen to come across a most peculiar video.

The description just said it was a scary encounter and Tatsumi, not really caring whether he slept or not that day, had clicked on it.

As the video started, Tatsumi could already tell the bad quality of the video, recorded with some teenager's phone camera. The bunch of teenagers, all male, had recorded the video at night, near the old pine forest, Nijinomatsubara. Suddenly, movement, there! by one of the trees! The figure is shorter than the lot of them, wearing a hoodie that seems to big for them, the hood covering most of their face. Tatsumi can already tell the mysterious figure is a woman due to her well-endowed figure. He can hear a young man whistling in the background. One of the young men tries to approach the girl, all friendly-like, flirting, rather poorly. Tatsumi had rolled his eyes, as he slurped noodles. The cameraman tries not to laugh too loud at his friend's poor attempt, as the girl just stands there, unmoving, head tilting slightly.

And then, everyone, including Tatsumi, hears it.

There's a slight cracking noise, barely caught by the camera, as if a branch had been broken. Then, the girl slowly turns towards them, red eyes glowing under the hood. The camera barely catches sight of her face but the group does and they go pale, taking off into a run before anything else happens. Tatsumi curious to what they had seen, pauses the video, rewinds it, and second by second, gets to the scene in question. He spits his noodles straight into the screen upon catching sight of the girl's face.

The video goes on; the camera is moving around frantically, it turns, once, towards the figure that was left behind. She's raising an arm, almost trying to stop them but then, she shakes her head. She never moves to follow them as the video ends.

A few minutes later, after cleaning the noodles and soup off of the old monitor, Tatsumi watches the video, again and again. He pauses it every time to study the face that stares back. He sees the red eyes, her blue, putrid, dry skin, the gash that's barely noticeable on her forehead and that dark pink hair. Seconds later, he's already opening a folder that's been in his desktop for years, and finds an old image. He opens it up and compares it to the putrid, almost dead girl on the video.

Hours later, Tatsumi showers, gets dressed, packs a bag, and leaves a check with his old landlord.

He's going to Karatsu.

Kotaro Tatsumi has finally found Sakura Minamoto.


	2. Dead Minamoto

**One Little Zombie **

_**...a ZLS AU... **_

"**Dead Minamoto"**

Her name was Sakura. Minamoto Sakura. That's what Saru had told her so long ago.

"That's your name," he had said, ripping a newspaper to pieces and throwing it to the nearest trash can just three days after finding her wandering alone and naked in the streets of Karatsu. "That's your name. Minamoto. Sakura Minamoto." And that was it. Sakura was her name, she had had no complaints about it. The name felt real, familiar even, and it was all hers and that's all it mattered.

Sakura couldn't remember a time before Saru; she had the small flashes here and there but nothing concrete. There had only been darkness, pain, and then, there was nothing.

Old man Saru would always tell her how he found her wandering about, clothes all gone, looking all wrong. Stitches all over the place, in her arm, in her legs, in her chest, in her head. Sakura had looked like a little doll that had been stitched together poorly and left to rot in the rain. When the old man saw her walking around like a headless chicken, he took her in, gave her clothes and shelter.

Saru had almost nothing to his name. He was a man with no home, no family. He would tell her, with pride, how he wandered the streets of Karatsu like a hermit, forever a wanderer, free of rules, free of society. The old man hid in the shadows of society, way past the old pine forest, on the beginnings of the beach. His blue tent was hidden in the trees, the years of use shown through the many patches.

The old man had many other neighbors, outcasts, like him. They would set their tents nearby, leaving early in the morning and coming back at night. Old man Saru never moved his tent. If he planned to go out, he would always pack his clothes, his books, everything of value, and wander the streets, looking for temporary work to fill his pockets with some precious cash.

But when he took Sakura in, Saru only left with a few things but left most of his valuables with on his tent for Sakura to keep watch.

It was an odd cycle; living with Saru had always been a challenge for Sakura.

The girl can still remember the first few days, still remember how confused and scared she had been, unsure if the old man that had so kindly taken her in would hurt her, unsure if he would ever stop talking to the sun and moon, unsure if he would ever stop talking about a war that wasn't there. On that fateful third day, he gives her that name and she begins to trust him.

They talked a bit more as the days went by, with Sakura shyly asking a few questions here and there, being always polite and Saru, taken in by such a polite little brat, would regel her stories of his military days, talk about the economy, talking about this and that, and one other thing that Sakura couldn't really understand. But she kept on listening, enjoying the conversations.

_...one...little...zombie…_

The change came about a year later; Sakura was reading one of Saru's many books, thrift store classics, when Saru grunted and said, "Girl, you're turning blue." Sakura had blinked in confusion before turning to one of her hands, letting out a yelp and confirming that yes, she was turning blue, almost gray.

Sakura had panic the first few days, when the color wouldn't disappear no matter how much she tried to clean it away. Weeks later, her legs and arms were bluish gray, her skin, once vibrant and alive, felt softer, like a raisin. Saru didn't seem too worried about it and told her not to worry about it.

"B-but...but!"

"If you ain't dying, you're fine…"

By the end of two months, Sakura skin had turned bluish gray completely, her eyes seemed to have sunken into her head, even the stitches that had never scarred, seemed off and scary. Saru had just shrugged his shoulders as if he had expected it.

"It's fine, it's fine," he assured her, grabbing an old hoodie and tossing it over her head, trying his best to ignore Sakura's devastated look. "If you ain't dying...you're...fine."

People avoided Sakura like the plague; they had avoided her before, but now, some were frightened, running off like if they had seen a corpse walking.

Sakura might as well have been a corpse for all she knew but she wasn't dying, so she was fine.

_...one...little...zombie…_

Saru had stopped being fine a while back, Sakura knew.

He was nine years older, almost hitting seventy. He talked less, smiled less, ate very little. He would lie in his little cot, and sleep as Sakura worried over him.

Sakura knew she couldn't afford to do much, not with her looking like the dead. She could go around collecting discarded cans to exchange them for some yen, perhaps run into a volunteer who would offer her some soup and water, but it was never enough. Sakura had insisted that he at least get help from the volunteers that walked around at night by the entrance of the beach but Saru would brush her off.

"I ain't dead yet!"

And he wasn't.

He kept lying on his cot, barely eating, losing weight, and Sakura could do nothing but watch him waste away.

Months later, as the cold barged into the world with it's fury, Saru finally collapsed. He had been collecting wood, Sakura by his side, worried for his health like always. The girl was at his side in seconds, begging him to tell her what was wrong but Saru just shook his head and coughed.

"I'm dying...girly…"

"No! No, you're not! You're justー"

"...dying," Saru said, grinning as the blood seeped through his rotten teeth and he coughed again. "I'm old, ya know…? And...sick…"

"Saru…" Sakura was looking around, trying to find someone, anyone, to help her, to help Saru. But she found no one as Saru held unto her hand and coughed some more.

"You're...you'll be fine...girly...urk...fine, fine...you know...you wanna know why I called you by your name?"

"Wh-why, Saru…?" If only she could keep him talking, then maybe, just maybe, he'll recover. He was fine. He had to be.

"I found your...your picture on a newspaper," he says, smiling. Sakura's barely listening. Saru's pulse feels faint in her hands. "Said...said…" he coughs. "...said...said you got hit by a car...a car…" He laughs but Sakura isn't paying attention. She's worried for Saru, worried for the cold that's taking hold and not letting go. "A car...said...said the girl...on the picture...died…and...and…" He's coughing again, louder, harsher, Sakura's eyes are filled with tears, her expression lost. There's nothing she can do for Saru. Nothing at all. And here's the old man, talking about dead girls and cars.

"But...but…you're...you're fine, ya know…? You're…" he takes a deep breath, one of his lasts, "...you're Sakura Minamoto...you came back from the dead...you're fine…"

_...one...little...zombie…_

A year later, and Sakura was all alone.

Saru was dead and buried, the only reminders that he ever existed where his blue tent, his books, and his little knick knacks that he had collected throughout the years.

Sakura still lived by the beach; she read Saru's books all over again, kept his knick knacks in order, folded his clothes, rinse and repeat. At night, she'll wander to the nearest vending machines, trying to decide what to buy with the little money she had acquired from selling discarded cans on the day before going back to her little tent by the beach and repeating the cycle all over again.

Until one day, while wandering back from the vending machines, she runs into a group of boys.

They're her age, maybe, she's not sure. They're talking animatedly, and Sakura knows she's in trouble.

There's a curfew and they are all skipping it, looking to cause some trouble like those biker girls she spotted from the forest, all in a line, heading to nowhere. At least the bikers left them alone. These punks wouldn't.

It's fine. Sakura could outrun them easily. Besides, she's dead. They couldn't kill her even if they tried.

One of them is recording with his phone as they approach.

Sakura only turns once, making sure to hide her face as one of them approaches, thinking he's all that, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Hey, hey, girl…" he whispers as a friend of his laughs. He's already moving to put a hand on her shoulder but Sakura just turns around, cracking her neck, raising her head up so they can all see.

The panic is instant. They don't scream but they all turn around and hightail it as fast as possible. Someone trips, gets up, and runs. The boy with the phone turns towards her again but she doesn't move. Soon, they disappear into the darkness and Sakura is all alone. She huffs and turns around, moving as quickly as possible. She's dead and so tired of the living.


	3. The Legends

**One Little Zombie **

_**...a ZLS AU... **_

"**The Legends"**

Everyone knows about the legends of Saga.

Six girls, six unfortunate accidents, all survivors, all legends. Well, calling the poor girls "legends" might have been an over exaggeration but the media hadn't cared much when they dubbed them so.

Nikaido Saki was the first, dubbed the "Legendary Number One"; Saki was a class act in trouble. The second-in-command of the all-girls biker gang, Dorami, Saki had made a name for herself on the streets, for being reckless and a daredevil. Any challenge, Saki would dive head on, damned the consequences. And then, it happened. Saki took a challenge too far and jumped off of a cliff and crashed. Surprisingly, she survived with only the scars and her destroyed bike as testament to her carelessness. Unfortunately for her, she was fined for destruction of government property (that traffic railing she had ripped in two as she jumped instead of making a turn), and was put on probation and her boss, Maria Kirishima, had to force Saki to retire from the gang. Saki didn't hold it against Maria for forcing her to quit but she understood; Maria was worried for her health and with that probation hanging unto Nikaido's neck, she didn't want to rest of the girls to catch trouble from the cops because of Saki hanging out with them. And besides, she needed an honest job to pay that heasty fine for that broken railing.

"Legendary Number Two", was nothing like Nikaido Saki. Mizuno Ai, had been an idol. Originally the lead single of the hit band, "Iron Frill", Ai had had it all; the fans, the fame, everything. A girl at just sixteen years of age and she was already at the top of the world. No one could possibly compare. All of that ended one fateful day when a lightning bolt struck Ai as she was thanking her fans on stage. Ai survived but her career quickly took a turn; she was deemed "legendary" by an overzealous press and she gained a fear of lightning and the stage. By the end of the year, Ai had quit her band, unable to perform during tame or harsh weather, unable to find the inspiration to keep on singing. Eventually, Ai recovered but she vowed to never sing again.

Ai wasn't the only "legendary idol" to have been struck by bad luck. Konno Junko, the "Legendary Number Three", had also been an idol, once. Unlike Ai, Junko had not totally quit the idol business but she kept her workload to an absolute minimum. Like with Ai, Junko had been totally worn out after her plane crash and she survived with many scars and bruises. Poor Junko had been absolutely traumatized by the ordeal. She had been one of the few survivors of that plane crash but the basis of being famous doomed her to her legend.

Ai and Junko got along just fine because of their pasts, and the scars they carried.

"Legendary Number Four" was a young woman of class, Ono Yugiri, the bewitching beauty of the stage. Yugiri had started young in her career, trained in the arts, dancing, everything to make her the perfect actress. There was no denying Yugiri was the best in her field, making headlines at the age of seven, and appearing in radio and television before hitting thirteen. How would such a perfect woman earn her legend? Well, Yugiri almost lost her head during a simple performances...a cable had caught her straight in the neck, almost choking the life out of her, dragging her neck, trying to separate her head from her body. Her comrades had quickly come to her rescue, cutting the rope just in time. The only thing remaining of her accident was the scar that went all around her neck, where the diabolical cable had cut skin. Unlike Ai and Junko, Yugiri still worked at the stage, but was always wary of loose cables and ropes.

Lily Hoshikawa was the fifth legend, a child actress that had taken over prime time with her performances. Known as the "Legendary Number Five", Lily was a precious little thing, only thirteen years of age, and already making headlines; she was in one popular show after another, people wondered if she ever took breaks. Eventually, the workload piled up until Lily could take it no more, her heart giving up one fateful afternoon before an important interview. Lily survived but the heart attack had forced her into an early retirement. Not that Lily had actually cared much about it, at least she was doing better, health wise.

As for the last legend, Yamada Tae, the "Legendary Number Zero", no one knew much. Tae was a recluse, writing in secret, releasing novel after novel, making little to no appearances in public. There was only one photo of her, and that photo of her was kept a close secret among the other legends, never to see the light of day. No one knew what Tae had done to receive her title. It was said she had an accident but the rumors clouded the facts; had she almost been beheaded? Poisoned? Torn apart? No one knew and the other legends were certainly not telling.

_...one...little...zombie…_

An early Sunday morning found five out of the six legends enjoying breakfast in a secluded cafe in Karatsu, a little ways away from the nearby beach and the famous Nijinomatsubara pine forest.

The girls had all become friends a year ago, when Saki went out of her way to meet the other legends, inviting them over for lunch to hear their stories and soon enough, the girls made it a habit to visit Karatsu at least once or twice every month. The cafe by the beachfront turned out to be the perfect place to avoid the press and they had taken to coming here after a long day of seeing the sights and whatnot around the area.

Today, the girls had decided to head straight to the secluded cafe, all talking animatedly about the so-called monster of Karatsu; the story had exploded in social media a few days ago.

"I still can't believe they're calling some poor girl a monster," Ai remarked, as she took a bite out of her cheesecake, swiping a bit of it with a spoon. Besides her, Junko nodded shyly.

"That's in poor taste…"

"I agree," Yugiri said, nodding, eyeing her phone distastefully as if it was somehow at fault for what she was reading.

"You can't deny she looks hella freaky, though," Saki remarked, munching on a chicken sandwich. "Who's ever seen a girl with blue skin anyway?"

"Maybe she's got blue blood!" Lily offered, sipping her strawberry shake through a rather large straw. Saki laughed.

"Probably!"

"Whatever it may be...that is no excuse to label her as a beast of any kind," Yugiri said, giving Saki a look. Saki raised her arms in defeat but not before she finished the last of her sandwich in one gulp.

"Agreed," Ai and Junko say at the same time as they finish the piece of cheesecake.

"Still," Saki went on, grabbing her water bottle. "It makes you think, doesn't it? Just who is this girl...having blue skin is not something you can hide easily…"

"That's her business, not ours," Ai pointed out, shaking her head. "For all we know, she could be the one playing a prank."

"Probably...pretty impressive prank if you ask me."

The girls stay silent after that, mainly interested in finishing their drinks before Saki, grinning devilishly asks, "Hey, you wanna check her out?"

_...one...little...zombie…_

Sakura spotted the group a little after eight, walking around the pine forest. The dead girl herself was coming back from the vending machines when she spotted them walking towards the direction of the beach.

Two girls were arguing in the front; one was laughing good naturally while the other growled and asked herself over and over again, "how in the world she was convinced to this nonsense?" Walking calmly behind them were the other girls, who seemed to be interested in the sights although, Sakura noticed that the white haired girl on the back kept on looking all around the place as she was expecting something to jump out.

Sakura couldn't blame her.

The first few times she had to wander the pine forest without Saru were the scariest times of her life. Saru figured it will help her get used to the dark. Sakura figured someone was chasing her every time she went to get something from the vending machines.

The dead girl had gotten over her fear as the months went on, to the point she could wander around the pine forest without getting lost.

These girls didn't look like those punks that had showed up nights back. They didn't look like locals, at least, not locals that Sakura was familiar with.

Still, she needed to get back to her tent. Sakura figured that she'll just follow them at a distance and then, just take the long way back home. If anything, their chatter was certainly interesting.

"I still can't believe you convinced me of this…" the short haired girl mutters again, shaking her head.

"Heh! What's the matter, Ai? Spooked?"

"Spooked…? You wish! And really, Saki…? For all we know, she's probably not even here."

"So?"

"Saki…!"

Sakura sighed. Of course. They were looking for their monster. Looking for her. She figured they wouldn't be the first. She was already expecting the horde of boys and girls to come for days on end andー

Sakura suddenly stopped, hitting something soft. The dead girl blinked, unsure of what she had hit while she was busy musing and hadn't seen where she was...going.

Sakura's eyes widened when she realized she had bumped into one of the girls, the white haired one that had been trailing behind the others. Sakura gulped uneasily as the girl slowly turned to face her; poor girl, she seemed too delicate, with a few uneven scars decorating her face.

They stared at each other in silence before the white haired girl let out a blood-curdling scream. Sakura couldn't help but scream back, so spooked she was by the stranger's sudden yelling.

"JUNKO!"

Before Sakura knew what was happening, the other girls were turning around, staring at her and the screaming girl. The blonde girl, Saki, ran up to them quickly, and before Sakura could blink she felt her head get hit by something. Probably a fist.

But before she knew what was happening her head made a turn, and then popped off of her neck, landing a few inches away as her body stood there, still like a statue before falling down to its knees.

The group of girls stood there in shock before letting out their own screams and running off.

In Sakura's defense, her head falling off had never happened to her before.

* * *

Short chapter is short...but, oh well...next chapter I'll focus on everyone's favorite man-detective!

Thanks for reading!


	4. A Hard Place

**One Little Zombie **

_**...a ZLS AU... **_

"**A Hard Place"**

Kotaro Tatsumi was on a mission; he had found Sakura Minamoto, or at least, who he thought was Sakura Minamoto.

Referred by internet nerds and paranormal aficionados erroneously as the "Monster of Karatsu", this blue-skinned (almost dead) girl had made rounds in the local paranormal/urban legend forums.

Comments about the so-called monster had made little sense to Tatsumi's brilliant mind; an urban legend had begun making the rounds in the forums just hours after the video went live on the internet, followed by theories, other stories, and whatnot.

One of the most popular stories (and the one that seemed to make a lot of sense in the minds of those amateurs) was that of the drowning of a young lady, who had taken to wandering the Nijinomatsubara forest at midnight, looking for the man that had killed her. Another popular one told the story of a deformed girl that had escaped a madhouse, and scared off idiot kids that wandered too close to her territory, but if she managed to catch one, she'll bite into their neck and suck up their blood, trying in vain, to recover her normal skin tone (ridiculous). One story, rather unpopular due to how normal it seemed, talked about some loony homeless girl that had bought herself blue paint to scare off troublemakers.

Many stories repeated the same pattern: murder, dead, ghost, crazy, homeless, sick, blah, blah, blah. Most of those stories made no sense, for Tatsumi, they were foolish fantasies conjured up to explain the unknown.

Tatsumi had done his homework, unlike this wannabe monster hunters, and had looked up public records and the news to confirm or deny what those internet legends whispered about. The only death recorded was from a year ago. It had been an old man, one of the many homeless that made their home on the beach, suddenly collapsing due to his weak health and the cold. No records nor rumors of a young woman dying, or disappearing, near the area.

As for Minamoto, well, Sakura had no deformity to speak of in life. Not even death itself could truly make the poor girl ugly. It was obvious the hunchback vampire of Karatsu was something someone made up to be part of the conversation.

Tatsumi, however, couldn't really discard the story about this girl being some loony homeless that had decided to have a little fun at the expense of the locals. Homeless lived by the skin of their teeth, some learned to live with the land, others got handouts from volunteers, and a few in-between got temporary jobs to make some yen for food and other necessities. There was a small possibility (a rather minuscule one), that this crazy girl had saved up to buy herself some paint, and set herself up to scare the kids out of her territory. But that seemed kinda far fetched, all things considered. The homeless generally kept to themselves, preferring invisibility, keeping themselves as far away as possible from a society that stopped caring for them a long time ago. The girl's age could probably explain her deviousness, of course, but if anything, she would have joined up with the local biker gangs that littered the area instead of scaring lousy kids with blue paint.

Leaving behind the foolishness of the internet, Tatsumi, instead decided to focus on the oddity that was Minamoto.

Sakura Minamoto, age seventeen, an only child, second year of high school, average to perfect grades, a rather normal life with workaholic parents, a dozen or so friends, and dead. Minamoto had just been a normal girl, living an average life, but all of it came to an end when some idiot hit her with his truck and her body went missing a day later. After that, nothing seemed to make sense. Her murderer was in jail but her body was still missing.

Ten years ago, his old boss along with most of the police department, had freaked when Minamoto's body had disappeared into thin air. No one could find her body. No cameras recorded a culprit, partly due to a storm that had taken them down a week prior. No witnesses, no nothing. The only clues that had been left behind had been the strands of dark pink hair that had belonged to the victim and some mysterious footprints that had made very little sense back then and had been discarded as evidence a long time ago.

The footprint was small, belonging, possibly (obviously) to a woman. Tatsumi had cared very little for that piece of evidence. It had told him nothing. He had kept a note about it either way but it had made no sense back then. He, like many others, had put very little important to that unknown footprint until now. It made sense now.

It was that particular piece of evidence that had gotten Tatsumi asking himself: what if Sakura Minamoto had still been alive and had escaped the morgue?

Now, Tatsumi knew it was silly to think that a girl, who had been declared dead and gone, had just woken up one day and decided to escape into the wilderness.

It was silly. It was dumb. It was...unbelievable.

Tatsumi could not deny the cases were a victim would wake up in the morgue, sometimes even at their own funeral if the stories were to be believed. But in Minamoto's case, there was nothing that indicated she was alive, much less moving.

He had read the report. He had seen the pictures.

Minamoto's body had truly suffered when that truck struck her dead. Her death was instant. Her head hitting the pavement with a sickening thud, cracking her skull open for the whole world to see the life spilling out of it. Her neck had twisted, breaking in half, her head loose as they put her in a body bag to transport her. Broken bones, legs, arms, ribs. Dead and broken. It was impossible for Minamoto to still be alive.

...and yet...if the possibility existed that Minamoto was still alive...what had stopped the girl from going home? What had stopped the still-living (not dead) Minamoto from marching back home into the arms of her distraught parents? What had stopped the corpseーthe girlーfrom calling home?

But then again, the evidence was very clear, Tatsumi knew that much.

The coroner had not exaggerated the damage. Photos had not been altered. That killer's lawyer had made a real fool of himself when he had tried to argue the impossible, saying that it was obvious that his client had been framed in some way. The judge had stared at the lawyer for a minute straight, wondering if he actually believed the bullshit he was talking about, before declaring a guilty verdict. At that time, the body had not been required. And if anything, the body disappearing had actually made things worse for her killer. Police wasted enough time trying to find out if any of the driver's friends or family members had actually been ballsy enough to steal Minamoto's body to stop the case from going forward.

It didn't matter in the end. Evidence had been collected and in less than six months, the case had been officially solved and closed but still, Minamoto's body remained missing.

As for Minamoto's parents...well, they left Saga to parts unknown. They had no daughter, they had no reason to stay.

But Tatsumi was still here. Still in Saga. And he had found her. He had found a girl with blue skin and red eyes. He had found a girl that hadn't aged in the last ten years. He was sure that this girl was Sakura Minamoto, there was no mistaking it and Tatsumi had never been wrong before and he was not about to be wrong about this now.

There was only one thing left to do, questions to answer.

Why was Sakura Minamoto still alive and kicking after all these years of being dead?

_...one...little...zombie…_

Growing up, Yugiri had never been truly afraid. The only time she had been truly frightened was when that cable came sailing for her head, holding unto, taking her breath away before trying to make off with her head.

Yugiri still had the occasional nightmare about the whole debacle. And the media, fools that they were, labeled her a "legend" for her survival, as if she needed another painful reminder of such a terrible event. Business increased after that. Not that she could truly complain. Her newfound fame found her six new friends to enjoy this new life she had made for herself and she was fine with it.

And then, that strange girl lost her head.

It seemed so...simple. So like the nightmares that had plagued her restless mind. The head just fell. It just fell. Fell...fell… the strange girl's body fell, too. It had stood there, as if in shock before falling to its knees.

Everything had been too much.

Yugiri and the others screamed and ran.

_...one...little...zombie…_

Yugiri followed after Lily and Junko. Saki and Ai were on the very front, dodging trees, the ex-biker repeating, "Shit! Shit! Shit!" as she ran. They were all spooked. Out of their element.

The older girl could barely make out Junko's sobs, Lily's panicked breathing. They needed to get out. To get out. Out.

They reached the other side of the Nijinomatsubara, by the road. Saki's already jumping over the railing. Ai stopped to help Junko and Lily climb over it as well. Yugiri dares to look back.

Nothing.

Nothing but darkness. That's all she sees.

"Let's get the fuck outta here!" That's Saki. She doesn't sound so sure, just anxious as they all felt. What should have been a strange night had just turned terrifying.

"Yugi!" Lily cries, already by the street, following after Ai, who's holding unto an exhausted Junko, trying to help the older girl cross the street. Yugiri nods, quickly climbs over the railing. The others are already on the other side. Yugiri dares to look back again. She shouldn't have. Red eyes are staring back at her. It's so sudden, she slips and falls, scratching her knees on the pavement. There's light coming in the distance, light that wasn't there before. Two lights.

Yugiri can hear the car coming. But she's suddenly paralyzed. She can still see those red eyes shining in the darkness by the trees. She's not sure if the strange girl has put her head on, or if it's floating in the air, observing her.

"YUGI!"

"SIS!"

The car's getting closer and Yugiri barely recovers. She's getting up but she knows she's too late. Yugiri is still in the middle of the road and the car is making no effort to stop. And then, she feels it. There's someone pulling her, grabbing unto her dress and her arm and pushing her, lifting her. And soon, the car blazes behind her, honking its horn in indignation, it's driver calling out, "Fuckin' kids!" as he speeds off.

It takes a few seconds for Yugiri to recover and then she looks up. It's the strange girl. She can see her blue-skin, like a raisin, like the dead. Her red eyes seemed to shine with some emotion. And, oh god, the scar in the middle of her head, it's…

...and then, as quickly as she appears, the strange girl runs to the other side, leaving Yugiri safe near the railing, close to her friends, all of them watching as she disappears into the darkness of Nijinomatsubara.


	5. A Little Conversation and More Action

**One Little Zombie **

_**...a ZLS AU... **_

"**A Little Conversation and More Action"**

Sakura ran.

She didn't know what had possessed her to follow after those girls after that blonde one knocked her head off. She should have just put her head back on and hightail it back home. But no, she had just put her head back on and ran after them.

The girls, in their panic, were heading straight towards the road that cut through the forest and, worried, Sakura followed after them. She didn't even know why she did it to begin with.

Roads had always made her nervous for as long as she could remember. She was always anxious when she came across a road, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Sakura knew she hadn't been scared of the roads before. Saru would always give her weird looks when she went with him in his walks, always double, triple checking that no cars were around before crossing the road. For Sakura, it would only be safe to cross if the street was car free. Her old friend never commented on this strange little habit of hers, he himself had many strange habits to speak off, but sometimes, when they were heading back to the beach, she would catch him murmuring, "Makes sense...makes sense…" Sakura never questioned what made sense to Saru. Nothing ever seemed to make sense in his mind unless it involved her and Sakura wasn't noisy, so she left it all be. But now, Saru was gone and Sakura was alone.

She was dead and alone in a world that would never understand her. And she had so carelessly revealed herself to a bunch of strangers and one of them had knocked her head off her shoulders. Then, she had chased after them and stopped one of them from becoming roadkill and that was that.

Once she reached the old tent, Sakura just collapsed. She lay on the makeshift bed, books forgotten, clothes unfolded, everything in place.

Sakura just lies there, her mind playing scenes she cannot recognize, telling her things she can't remember. There's lights, there's a noise...there's pain...there's nothing.

There's nothing.

_...one...little...zombie…_

A few hours later, Saki can't figure out what the hell happened back there.

Everyone's currently crashing in her apartment; they had all taken a cab straight to Saki's place a few minutes or so after the whole mess, all quiet, still thinking about recent events. Once inside the apartment, Lily had called her father and Ai had sent a message to her mother that they would be staying with Saki in Karatsu before going back home the next day. Nothing out of the ordinary. The girls had made it a habit of staying with Saki for a while now before heading back home. It was normal for them.

Junko for her part, has her own place somewhere in Imari, so she's not calling anyone. As for Yugiri, well, she never called anyone. She never needed to.

Saki can see her from the corner of her eye.

The older woman is rather pensive, and had been for the last hour or so, massaging the bandages that covered her cuts and bruises. Falling into the hard road had really done a number on her knees but not enough to warrant a hospital visit. Saki figures Yugiri's thinking about that strange girl and how her head fucking popped off, them running off, that stupid driver, and that girl showing up and saving Yugiri.

Saki's been thinking about their headless wonder, too. She's not sure what to think. Saki had just reacted when she saw Junko screaming bloody murder. And as Junko would tell her later, well, the girl had just bumped into the idol, and well, cause and effect and all that crap, but still, that didn't explain that weirdo's head falling off. Saki had punched many people in her day but it's when chicks started losing their heads that Saki figured she had to start asking questions.

Saki's already thinking about calling her old boss, asking her what's what, if she's heard of that blue-skinned headless wonder of Karatsu. Maria would probably get annoyed at her bullshit but Saki is not the type to settle down. Not like this, anyway.

Besides, as long as she was concerned, that headless wonder of a girl was alright in her book.

_...one...little...zombie…_

Ai Mizuno had, once upon a time, loved performing. It had made her smile, laugh, cry, and everything in between. Being an idol had been hard work, and Ai loved every minute of it. And then, the clouds had gathered all over her parade, dropped some rain and some lightning for good measure just to make absolutely sure it could ruin her day and ruin her life and it did.

The lighting had left it's scars on her body and in her mind. Ai hated bad weather. Even a little rain could set her off. She had gotten better thanks to her mother, and surprisingly Junko, who had a tragedy of her own to carry, but she was getting there. The weather still made her nervous but at least she didn't want to hide under the bed when the water started to hit the roof.

Nowadays, in order to keep herself busy, Ai worked part-time as her mother's secretary. Her mother was a doctor and had opened a clinic just a few years back. Ai would usually take over when the other secretary was on vacation or had days off. The ex-idol didn't mind the job. It kept her busy.

As for recent events, well, Ai did what she did best, research.

She had been hogging Saki's old laptop for over an hour, searching. Except, she's not sure what she's looking for. She's been reading thread after thread on these damn forums and she's not finding anything. Ai found a few unbelievable stories, like that weird hunchback story, and the one about vampires (vampires!?), and about that loony girl with the paint. Nothing she read explained anything, really. There was no story about how that girl's head fell off or anything like it. She's checked twice now and still, no one writes about anything about falling heads.

Suddenly, Ai feels a small tap on her shoulder. It's Junko Konno, carrying a cup of coffee, looking tired.

Ai offers her a kind smile. Junko returns it almost too shyly. "How are you doing, Junko?"

"...alright...considering…" Junko had always been a delicate girl, even before her accident. She got nervous around new people and wasn't always much for conversation. "I'm just glad Yugiri is alright…" Both girls were silent after that before Junko let out a small giggle. Ai stared at her in confusion before the older idol explained, "You know...I've never scared anyone with my screaming before…"

Ai grinned. "Heh...not just her, though...you really got us all…"

Silence.

"Ai?"

"Hmm?"

"Who...who exactly did we ran into…?"

Ai thinks about it for a minute. "I'm not sure…" And she's willing to bet, these forums won't tell her either.

_...one...little...zombie…_

Lily gives Yugiri a big smile as she hands the older woman a cup of tea. Yugiri thanks her with a smile of her own as Lily seats besides her, phone in hand, typing away. Nearby, Yugiri can see Saki talking loudly on her own cell phone, ordering some pizza and making small talk with the pizza man. Ai and Junko are sitting near the laptop, both whispering amongst each other about one thing or the other.

Lily frowns a bit at her phone. "Yugi," she says, showing her the phone's screen. "Tae doesn't believe me…"

"About what?"

"About that girl that lost her head!"

"Oh." Yugiri takes a sip of her drink. "Well, it was a rather unbelievable event...you can't fault Tae for not believing you…"

"Now she's asking if you're okay…" Lily told her, pointing towards the new message. "It's kinda weird, though...Tae writes the strangest things but she can't believe we saw a girl lose her head…" Yugiri shrugged.

"Some things are harder to believe than others...she wasn't there, after all…" And frankly, if Yugiri hadn't been there either, she would have had a hard time believing it, too. She still couldn't believe everything she had seen if it had not been for her injuries that reminded her that yes, everything had been real. There was blood, there was pain, there was reality.

"Tae's coming tomorrow," Lily says after a while, sending a good-bye message to their older friend.

"Hmm…"

"Yugi?"

"Yes?"

"Are...do they still hurt?"

Yugiri touches the bandages and smiles. "They are fine. They just feel numb. Very little pain."

Lily seems to want to say more but just puts her phone away and grabs her own cup of sweet tea. She's drinking a bit before asking, "You...you think that girl was playing a trick on us…?"

"A trick?" Yugiri blinks.

"Yeah...I mean...when her head fell off...heads don't fall off like that...do they?" Lily seems to be seriously considering the possibility of her own head falling off, massaging her neck a bit. Yugiri giggles.

"They sure don't, Lily...don't you worry…" Lily seems relieved to hear that but it just makes Yugiri wonder.

That girl was obviously not playing any tricks. That much was certain. She had practiced theater enough to know the difference between an accident and a trick. Whatever it was, that girl's head had really fallen off.

And that just begs the question...who was that girl?

_...one...little...zombie…_

Maria Kirishima let out a loud yawn.

It was an early Sunday morning and Maria felt it would have been better if she had just stayed at home and slept the day away. And her mother wanted her to do the dishes. Pah! As if.

(maybe if she was really bored)

Ever since she had been forced to kick Saki out of Dorami, things had gotten a bit boring. It wasn't so bad, the few occasional beat-em ups were still common, as were the races but not as good as it used to. A few of the girls had outright quit after Saki's accident, not like Maria could blame them.

Saki's accident had been all over the place after it had happened. Everyone kept on saying she was lucky to be alive and all that jazz. Her mother, Reiko, almost had a heart attack when she heard about it and had she gotten her way, Maria would have been forced to disband Dorami, like Reiko had done all those years back. They had argued, of course, argued until they couldn't talk anymore. They eventually made up thanks to Saki but Maria knew Dorami wouldn't last long if anything happened to their boss. Reiko would make Saga burn if something happened to Maria, and Maria knew that and she'll rather not involve her mother at all, not because it made her look weak (even if that was sort of the reason) but because she was her mother. Pissing off the wrong person never led to anything good. Maria was smart enough to know that. She didn't let Dorami's fame get to her head...at least, not too fast. People had died faster than their egos, after all.

For now, it was just Maria and a few other girls, lazing about in the local beach by the old pine forest. Some of the girls were already talking about some concert they were planning on attending the next weekend, one of them even asking if Maria wanted to go. Maria had just shook her head and continued to sip her drink as she sat on her bike.

They hadn't really bothered to do much that Sunday morning. Maybe Korosuke would show up, one never knew. Maybe they could bet in a few races. That was always easy moneyー

"EXCUSE ME!"

Maria almost choked on her straw.

A man wearing sunglasses and a suit stood in front of her. He frowned while Maria glared his way.

"What the fuck is youー"

"Are you Maria Kirishima, leader of Dorami?"

Maria blinked before glaring again.

"Who wants to know?"

"Me, obviously," the man replied, making a face as if he had answered a stupid question.

"And who the hell are you?"

"Tatsumi. Kotaro Tatsumi," he said, nodding with a smile. "You probably have heard of meー"

"No."

Tatsumi frowned. "Oh."

"What the hell do you want?" Maria asked, glaring as the rest of her gang began to crowd behind her, ready to beat some sense into the weirdo in a suit.

"I'm looking for a missing person," Tatsumi says. He takes out a picture of a girl and shows it to Maria. The girl in the picture is rather pretty, long pink hair, blue eyes, a polka dot ribbon. "Her name's Sakura Minamoto and she's been missing for quite some time," the guy goes on, quickly pocketing the photo. "I'm told by some of the locals that they have seen her wandering about…she doesn't like much like the one in the photo...I'm told she's got a bit of a skin problem…it's blue."

"What the hell is blue?"

"Her skin."

Silence.

Maria frowned.

Blue skin...what the hell was this guy talking about?

"We haven't seen any freaks around here," Maria finally says, shaking her head.

"So...you haven't seen her?"

Maria glared. "Hell no."

The man suddenly sighed, disappointment on his face before he shook his head. He stared to the side for a bit before noticing a group of people and then took his leave, crying out another "EXCUSE ME!" as he marched towards the group nearby.

"What the hell was that about?" one of the girls muttered.

"And what's this about blue skin? Isn't that just a rumor...you know...about that weirdo in that video…" Another girl comments, shaking her head. Maria sighs.

"Whatever...maybe the girl he's looking for is crazy…"

"Maybe…"

_Bring...ring...a' ding...ding…!_

Maria moves to grab her phone, still staring at that weirdo, who's already gone to a new group and is bothering another group of people with his stupid questions. "Yeah?"

"_Heya, Maria!"_ Saki Nikaido's voice greets her. Maria can't help but smile.

"Hey! What's up, Nikaido?"

"_Ha! Nothing much...still lazing around, eh?" _

"Pssh...as if you're any better! I know you don't work weekends."

"_So, what? At least I do the dishes!" _

"Bah!" Maria smiled. "So, what's happening with you? Other than house cleaning, obviously."

Saki chuckled on the other end. "_Not much...although, I wanted to ask you a favor." _

"Can't let you participate in any races, girl...you know that."

"_No! Not that! It's about...well, how should I put it…" _Saki sounded a little nervous on the phone, Maria wondered why. "_You remember the girls, right?" _

"Your new friends? Yeah, sure...what about them?"

"_Well...we ran into someone last night...and well, this someone...ended up saving one of the girls from some moron driver…" _

"Okay…"

"_We figured the girl that helped us out...she's one of the local homeless…" _

"Oh."

"_So...I was wondering if you can keep your eyes open for that girl…and tell me when you see her...Big sis wants to thank her personally." _

"How are you so sure I'm gonna see this girl, anyway?"

"_...well, because you can't really miss her...she's got...well, how do I say it? She's...uh...she's got blue skin…" _Maria blinked.

Blue...skin...that couldn't be…

"_Maria?" _

But Maria wasn't answering. She was staring into the distance at the man with the sunglasses and frowning.


End file.
